


Stress Baking

by J000liet



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 5 Things, Daichi is a bro, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Stress Baking, Sugamama, Yachi gets lost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 07:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10566267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J000liet/pseuds/J000liet
Summary: Kuroo and Yachi could mark the passage of their relationship in baked goods. It was silly, but it was also true. These are the five times how Yachi baked for Kuroo and the one time he baked for her.Excerpt:“Was it weird of me to do that?”“No. It was very nice of you.” Kiyoko patted her head.“WHY ARE THEY STARING AT YOU?” Tanaka was by their side in a second.“DID ONE OF THEM SAY SOMETHING?” Noya followed.“Hey Yachi!” She heard Kuroo call her name. “Thanks for the snickerdoodles!”EEEEEEP! She jumped and ran to get a bag off the bus.





	

* * *

* * *

**1: Snickerdoodle**

Hitoka Yachi was a stress baker. And this multi-team, practice week was stressing her out. But being a stress baker also meant that right now, she was looking at dozens upon dozens of cookies. What was she going to do with all of them!? She was struck with a sudden flash of inspiration and pulled out her phone. “Hey mom, on your way home from work, could you pick up some pastry boxes?”

 

That is how she ended up with pile of boxes filled with cookies in her duffel bag. She was standing next to Kiyoko, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “Are those all the captains?”

“And the vice captains.” 

“Why isn’t Suga over there then?” Kiyoko gave her a look, then looked to Suga keeping the team in one place, then back to her. “Point taken. Would it be alright if I went over to give Daichi something?”

“That should be fine.” Kiyoko smiled. “Is it what ever is in those boxes.” Yachi nodded. “Fair warning, male high school athletes are crazy when it comes to food.” And Yachi was pushed towards the group. She was standing behind Daichi when suddenly someone noticed her.

“HEY! HEY! HEY!” He was big. And had pointy hair. And sharp eyes. And was scary. “Who are you little birdie?”

“Bokuto don’t scare her.” That guy was unamused. And serious looking. “Sorry about him, Daichi.”

“Yachi?” Daichi was staring at her.

“I made cookies for everyone. Here you are. Bye!” She shoved the boxes at the Daichi and ran away.

She was back by Kiyoko when she managed to calm herself.

“That seemed to go well?” Kiyoko asked her.

“Did it?”

“They all look happy.”

Yachi turned to look. Seven guys were looking between her and the boxes, faces between a smile (Daichi), confusion (teams she didn’t even recognize the names of), and awe (this was the one called Bokuto, his friend, and the two from Nekoma). She blushed and looked away. “Was it weird of me to do that?”

“No. It was very nice of you.” Kiyoko patted her head.

“WHY ARE THEY STARING AT YOU?” Tanaka was by their side in a second.

“DID ONE OF THEM SAY SOMETHING?” Noya followed.

“Hey Yachi!” She heard Kuroo call her name. “Thanks for the snickerdoodles!”

EEEEEEP! She jumped and ran to get a bag off the bus.

* * *

**2: Chocolate Chip**

The next time she is in a stress-baking mood it's before the prelims. And she had already given her cookies to the team, and her friends, and Coach, and Sensei. Who else could she give this last baker's dozen to?

“Kenma says that Nekoma is working really hard. They’ll be hard to beat when we get to them.” Hinata was talking to Kageyama. “But we can beat them.”

“You don’t need to tell me that, dumbass.” Kageyama snapped.

THAT WAS IT! She ran over to Daichi and Suga. “Excuse me, Daichi-san!”

“Yachi?”

“I was wondering if you had Kuroo-san’s home address?”

“What?”

“I made extra cookies. And I’ve already given some to everyone here. And when I heard Hinata talking about Nekoma, I figured that everyone here has friends over there so I would send them the extra cookies. I figured sending them to the captain would be the smartest thing to do!”

“That is very kind of you Yachi.” Suga smiled at her.

She blushed. 

“I don’t have is address, but I do have his phone number.” Daichi smiled at her. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“Oh well, I don’t-”

“How about Daichi texts him first telling him that he gave you his number, then you can talk to him?”

“That sounds better.” She sighed.

Daichi sent the message, then gave her Kuroo’s number.

**Me:** Hello Kuroo-san. This is Yachi Hitoka.

**_XXX-XXX-XXXX:_ ** _ Hello Hitoka-chan! Daichi said you had something to ask me? _

**Me:** Would you like some cookies?

**_Kuroo-san:_ ** _ Are they snickerdoodles? _

**Me:** Chocolate chip.

**_Kuroo-san:_ ** _ I would love some. _

**Me:** Could you share them with the rest of the team?

**_Kuroo-san:_ ** _ Do I have to? They were really good. _

**Me:** They are meant for your team. But it is a baker’s dozen.

**_Kuroo-san:_ ** _ What does that mean? _

**Me:** You can have two.

**_Kuroo-san:_ ** _ Thank you, Hitoka-chan. _

**Me:** You’re welcome, Kuroo-san.

She put her phone down and went to practice. When it was over she was surprised to see a text notification on her phone

**_Kuroo-san:_** _If you ever have extra cookies, I’d be happy to take them off your hands. Just me,_ _  
__though. Not the rest of the team._

Hitoka smiled before sending a response.

**Me:** If you insist.

* * *

**3: Unicorn Poop**

“Daichi-san, when is Kuroo-san’s birthday?”

“What?” Daichi handed the folded net to Suga.

“Well, we’ve been talking. I’ve been asking for advice about managing the team. And he asks for advice sometimes too. But I just realized I don’t know when his birthday is. Do you know?”

“I know it’s in November. But I don’t know the exact date, no.”

“Oh… so I’ve missed it.” She sighed.

“Planning on sending him a birthday snack?”

She blushed. 

“Well, April would be his half birthday. Why don’t you use that as a reason to send him something?” Suga suggested.

“Really? You don’t think that it would be too weird?”

“Not at all, Yachi.” He gave her hair a little ruffle.

Yachi thanked the two and ran off. 

“I think she has a crush on Kuroo, Dai.” Suga giggled.

“I think Kuroo has a crush on her, Suga.” Daich smiled back.

_ **~~KY--KY~~** _

_ It’s spring. The prelims are happening… something not too fatty. But something fun for his birthday… _ Yachi teased her lip between her teeth. She was passing the toy store on her way home when she saw it in the window.  _ PERFECT! _

Kuroo was waiting at practice for Kenma to show up. He wasn’t normally late and Kuroo was beginning to worry. He opened his phone and pulled up Kenma’s contact when he saw the pudding-head walk through the door.

“Kenma, why are you late?” He sighed.

“I forgot Yachi’s present in my locker.”

“Yachi gave you a present?” He wouldn’t lie, he was a bit disappointed.

“No, she gave you a present.” Kenma handed him a box. “She sent it to me so it would be a surprise.”

“Oh.”

The entire practice he thought about it. Hopefully it was some more cookies. _Hitoka Yachi makes the best cookies…_ he sighed and continued on with practice.

And then finally… FINALLY it was over. The gym was clean and Kuroo grabbed his box and raced home. He opened the plain brown box to find a smaller one surrounded in bubble wrap and wrapped in colorful paper. On close inspection, the paper was yellow, with small white cartoon cats holding various colored bright balloons. There was a card on the top with his name on it.

> _ Here’s a gift for your birthday! _
> 
> _ I know it’s around the halfway point, _
> 
> _ but I’ll do better next year! _
> 
> _ ~ Yachi HItoka _

He undid the paper, opened the white box, and couldn’t help but laugh. Inside were three small Beanie Babies. One was a black cat with gold eyes, wearing a handmade Nekoma jersey. The second was a grey dog with white fluff all around its face. The third, was a unicorn. He picked it up, examined it, and put it back. It confused him. There was another box that he pulled out and opened and everything fell into place. In big black font was a note card declaring what the rainbow sparkling cookies were: UNICORN POOP. He flipped the card over to see a small handwritten note: (don’t worry. They’re just sugar cookies!)

 

 

Practice the next day had him carrying two of the cookies into the gym.

“What was in your present, Kurro?” Lev popped up.

He smiled and handed a cookie to Kenma. “Unicorn Poop.”

* * *

**4: Brownies**

Kuroo was surprised to see who was calling him. “Yachi?”

“I’m lost.” Came a small terrified voice.

“What?” He sat up from his stretch.

“I came with my mom to Tokyo today and for the rest of the weekend and I figured I surprise you with a visit but I got lost and now I don’t know what to do.” She started crying.

“Okay, calm down.” He did his best to calm her. “Can you look around you and tell me what you see?” He listened as Yachi told him in intense detail what her surroundings looked like. “Okay, I’m pretty sure where you are. Is there an obnoxious bright purple house?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, if you walk towards that house, past the trees there’s a playground, right?”

There was the sound of walking and then a: “The playground with a yellow slide and a tire swing?”

“Yep. Wait at that park. I’m coming to get you.”

“Thank you, Kuroo.”

Kuroo grabbed his team jacket and his things threw it on over his sweatshirt and hurried out the door, running into Nekomata.

“Where are you off to, Kuroo?” Nekomata asked.

“I’m going to pick up a friend.”

“A friend?” He smiled. “Is it that manager you talk about all the time? What was her name?” 

“Yachi Hitoka.” Kenma stated.

Kuroo must have blushed, because Nekomata kept smiling. “Are you going to pick her up at the station?”

“No, at the part in the next town. She made a wrong turn and she’s lost.”

“Yachi is lost?” Kenma looked up from his game.

“Then what are you doing jabbering? Go and get that girl!” Nekomata yelled. “We can do one practice without you.”

The park wasn’t very far, but when he got there he was slightly out of breath. Probably because he sprinted the entire way. He saw her, sitting on a bench with her knees pulled up to her chest. “Yachi!” He called out and waved. She looked up and saw him and ran. “It’s okay.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“Can I bake something?”

“Sure.” He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her. 

When they got back to his house, his mom saw the two of them and gave them some space. “The kitchen is here.”

“Thank you.” She took off his jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and started going through the cupboards.

“What are you doing, letting her into the kitchen? She’s a guest!” His mother snapped at him.

“She’s a stress baker. It’ll make her feel better.” He shrugged. Kuroo watched as mixed by memory. Chocolate powder, flour, sugar, butter, eggs, more chocolate, milk, one by one was weighed and combined until a thick batter was poured into a pan.

“Does your oven run hot?”

Kuroo thought for a second. “Hey Ma!” He screamed over his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Does the oven run hot?”

“Nope. It’s pretty on par!”

“I think the oven is pretty on par.” He turned at told her as if she didn’t hear the entire conversation and she giggled. 

“Thank you, Kuroo.” She put the pan in the oven and set a timer on her phone.

“You can call me Tetsurou, you know.” He told her as she looked up from her phone. 

“You can call me Hitoka, if you want. Or something else. Hinata tells me that you like giving everyone names of your own.”

Kuroo thought for a moment. “I suppose that’s true, Ya-chan.” He smiled. “You can give me a name if you want.”

“Hmmmm…” She thought, “I like Tetsurou. But maybe something will come naturally to me later.”

“Did the baking help?”

“OH! Yes! Thank you for letting me use your kitchen!”

“What did you bake?”

“Brownies.” She smiled happily.

“Did I hear the word brownies?”

“Ma, this is Yachi Hitoka. Yachi, this is my mom.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for letting me into your home and letting me use your kitchen!” She bowed.

“Well I’m sure they will be delicious.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll leave you two alone.”

They stood in silence for a while. “We didn’t have school today. That’s why I could come down.”

“I’m sorry you got lost.”

“It’s alright.” Yachi sighed. “Once I start panicking I can’t really calm down.”

They stood in silence some more. “Why didn’t you have school today?”

“Faculty in service.” Yachi sighed. “Did you have school today?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I took you away from practice!” She started to panic again.

“It’s alright. When you called I was more or less forced out of the gym. The team loves your cookies.”

“I’m glad.”

“Do you need to get back to your hotel room?”

“Oh!” She pulled out her phone and called her mom.  
  “Hi mom!”  
    “Oh, I see.”  
      “I can go home if you want?”  
        “Well once I get back I should-”  
          “Yes, I’m with Kuroo.”  
            “Yes."  
              “Alright, I’ll ask.” She looked up at him. “Is your mom around?”

“She should be in the living room.”

Yachi followed Kuroo’s instructions. “Excuse me, but my mom would like to talk to you.” She held out her phone.

“Alright.” His mother took it and Yachi left the room.

“What’s going on?”

“The hotel messed up our reservation and we lost the room so my mom has to share with a co-worker. She want’s to know if I can stay here.”

The weekend that Kuroo spent with Yachi was one of the best weekends of his life. She spent time with Kenma when Kuroo had to go to classes for his college exams and after, Kuroo and Kenma taught her how to play volley ball. She wasn’t very good, more prone from running from the ball then hitting it, but they wouldn’t tell her that. She was gone before he wanted her to be, and it shouldn’t this big of a deal.

“I’ll text you on the train.” She smiled.

“Okay.”

“Don’t finish those brownies as soon as I leave.”

“Okay.” He laughed.

“Say something other than okay.”

“I don’t want you to go.” He admitted.

“I’ll send you something when I get home?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” She smiled. “Oh, there’s my mom.” She waved. 

“Will you introduce me?”

“Sure.”

Her mom was nice. She was a bit serious, but overall very nice.

That weekend was all he could think about on Monday, even through practice.

“Hey, Kenma!” Yaku smiled.

“What?”

“Kuroo is crushing, isn’t he?” Yaku’s smile turned into a smirk.

“Yep.” Kenma kept playing his game.

“Does she like him back?”

“Yep.”

“So can I-”

“No.” He paused his game and looked up. “Let him do this on his own.”

* * *

**5: Lemon Bars**

It was summer. Kuroo was starting college the day after tomorrow. Nothing should change. So why was she stress baking with the intent to send to him?

“Yachi, are you alright?” Suga was sitting in her apartment eating watermelon.

“Yeah, I’m fine!”

“Are you thinking about Kurrrrooooo?”

“NO!” She squeaked.

“Yes you are.” He smiled. “You know, he and I, along with Daichi and Asahi and Kiyoko are all going to the same college.”

“Really?

“Yeah. If you have anything you want me to give him, I can do it.”

“I couldn’t ask that of you, Suga-senpai!”

“Hitoka,” he looked at her seriously, “drop the senpai.”

“Alright, Suga…” she chewed on her lip as she pressed her dough into the glass pan.

“So what are you making?”

“Lemon bars!”

“A good choice. But they need to be refrigerated, don’t they?”

“oh... Yeah.”

“Then I can take them to Kuroo.” Suga smiled.

“Is this the reason you asked to come over today?” Yachi squinted at him.

Suga just laughed. “You have that stare down. And yes, that is part of why I came over today. Now it is time for the other part.”

“And what part is that?”

“The mom part.” Suga placed his watermelon rind down. “You should tell him how you feel.”

“What!” She started crying out things, not knowing what she was saying.

“Yachi, calm down!” Suga jumped up from the table and hugged her.

“I can’t do that. He-”

“Feels the same way.” Suga petted her hair.

“No he doesn’t.”

“Yes. He does.” Suga sighed and pulled away. “You are both so clueless.”

“How do you know.”

“Because when Daichi and I moved into our dorm room, Kuroo was moving in next door. All he could do was ask about you. Hinata told me that Kenma told him that you were all Kuroo could talk about for days after he got things from you in the mail. I’ve been in his dorm room. Those little things you sent to him, the stuffed animals, he still has those.”

“He does?”

“Yeah. And you wanna know a secret?” Suga whispered. “He’s learning how to cook.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t want to seem useless.”

“Kuroo isn’t useless.”

“No, he isn’t. You should tell him that.”

“But he’s in college now. I’m just… me.”

“And you are wonderful, Yachi.”

“Can… can you give him the lemon bars? And a note?”

“I would love to.”

 

 

Suga smiled to find Daichi waiting outside of their dorm room. “It’s convenient that his room is next to ours.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Daichi laughed and the two turned and banged on Kuroo’s door.

“Daichi? Suga? What’s up.”

“Delivery for Kuroo Tetsuro.” Suga held out the box.

“What? I didn’t order anything.”

“No. I did.” Suga smiled. “A letter is included.”

“What?”

“I just came from Yachi’s home.”

“Oh?” Kuroo squeaked. “And-ah-how… how is she?”

“She made you lemon bars.” Suga smiled.

“Lemon bars?” He looked down at the box.

“And she wrote you a letter.” Suga slid the letter on top of the box. “I hope you appreciate the work I went through to get you that letter. Let’s go Daichi.” He took his hand and pulled him away.”

“What is in that letter?”

“A love declaration.” Suga smiled as he told them in their dorm room.

“A love declaration!?” Daichi stopped in his tracks. “What did you do to Yachi to get that done?”

“A lot.”

* * *

 

**+1. Red Velvet Cake**

Kuroo rang the bell and took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Last weekend, Suga had delivered to him the lemon bars a letter from Yachi. Tonight, He was delivering a treat himself.

“Hello?” Yachi’s voice came over the speaker.

“Ya-chan?”

“Tetsuro!” She sounded happy. There was the sound of feet against the floor and the front door was thrown open. “I’m so happy to see you!”

“These are for you.” He held out a box.

“What are they?”

“Open it.” Yachi opened the box. “Red velvet cupcakes. The dorm oven isn’t very good, so they may not be cooked right. But I forced Daichi and Suga to split one and they’re still alive, so that’s good.”

She giggled. “I can’t wait to try it!”

“You’ll have to give me tips on how to make it better.”

“Okay. You wanna come in?”

“Sure.” He nodded, entered, and toed off his shoes.

“So what brings you here?”

“This.” He held up the letter, and saw her tense. 

“And?” She asked quietly.

“Me too.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “I feel the same.”

She jumped up into his arms with a little yell and wrapped herself around him in a hug. He buried his face in the juncture of her neck and shoulder and smiled. “I owe Suga a thank you.”

“Just no peanut butter bars.”

“Why no peanut butter bars?” She pulled away to look at him.

“Cause those are my favorite. And I want you to make those for me only.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, Hitoka?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I take you out to dinner? As a date?”

She flashed him the brightest smile he had ever seen. “I would love to.”

* * *

Yachi and Kuroo could measure their relationship out in baked goods. The others would laugh about it, but Kuroo always got peanut butter bars delivered before a test or exam or game and Yachi would get red velvet cupcakes in the mail as a surprise, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.

 


End file.
